Today, Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano has passed away at the age of 88.
Di Stefano suffered from a heart attack on Saturday, and has been hospitalised since in an induced coma. Unfortunately, Alfredo was unable to recover, and passed away in Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital.
The prolific attacker played for River Plate, Huracan, Millonarios Real Madrid and Espanyol. He also represented three countries in Argentina, Columbia and Spain, yet failed to feature in the World Cup once.
During his time at Madrid, Di Stefano accomplished an impossible feat; He won the European Cup 5 times in a row, scoring in each of the finals, and grabbing a hattrick in the last. This success lead to many, including Pele stating that he was the best player of all time. He also claimed eight spanish titles, one Spanish Cup and one Intercontinental Cup during his time at the prosperous national giants alongside his two European player of the year awards in 1957 and 1959. Other achievments include two Argentine Leagues & one America Cup for River Plate and four Columbian Leagues shared between Millonarios and Bogota.
The Argentina born striker continued his footballing career as a manager after retirement. He managed Elche, Boca Juniors (2 times), Valencia (3 times), Sporting CP, Rayo Vallecano, Castellon, River Plate and Real Madrid (2 times). He won several Leagues and Cups with all these clubs, proving to be just as good a manager. Yet his most memorable triumph was with Real Madrid again, as he guided his side to the Spanish Super Cup, beating arch-rivals Barcelona.
Many influencial figures in the footballing world were quick to react to Di Stefano's passing:
"Sad to learn of Di Stefano's passing, the most complete player I've seen. My favourite player. A legend is gone. RIP." - Sepp Blatter, FIFA president.
"Don Alfredo has left us, one of the greats of world football. Goodbye maestro, that you are never without a football up there." - Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid manager.
"RIP Sir Alfredo Di Stefano. I will never forget each of the shared moments with such a football legend." - Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid defender.
Yet the most noticable came from Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti & Cristiano Ronaldo both respectively saying "Rest in peace Don Alfredo," & "It's a very sad day. For me, for all the Madridistas, for the world of football."
